Performance of magnetically recoverable core–shell Fe3O4@Ag3PO4/AgCl for photocatalytic removal of methylene blue under simulated solar light

• A novel core–shell Fe3O4@Ag3PO4/AgCl photocatalyst was successfully synthetized.
• This photocatalyst can be easily magnetically separated and reused.
• The activity does not decrease for MB degradation after five times reuse.

A novel magnetically recoverable core–shell Fe3O4@Ag3PO4/AgCl photocatalyst exhibiting rapid magnetic separation, stability and high photocatalytic activity under simulated solar light has been developed. Briefly, Ag3PO4 is immobilized on Fe3O4 nanoparticles and then an AgCl shell is formed by in situ ion exchange. The complete degradation of the methylene blue (MB) over the Fe3O4@Ag3PO4/AgCl photocatalyst only took about 60 min, much faster than WO3–Pd photocatalyst. Fe3O4@Ag3PO4/AgCl nanocomposites can be easily recovered by a magnet, and reused at least five times without any appreciable reduction in photocatalytic efficiency.

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